


Improvvisato

by MiniNephthys



Category: Uncommon Time (Video Game)
Genre: Multi, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2016-02-05
Packaged: 2018-04-15 08:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4599450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiniNephthys/pseuds/MiniNephthys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short Uncommon Time pieces, including crossovers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crescendo

**Author's Note:**

> Have you played Uncommon Time? You should play Uncommon Time. This fic will spoil wildly and freely.
> 
> I'm not tagging the crossovers or crossover characters for this because I imagine that will grow to be an enormous list, knowing me.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two magicians discuss their children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wadanohara crossover. Spoilers up to the beginning of the first extra dungeon.

For sorcerers of Meikai’s caliber, speaking to magicians from other worlds is neither impossible nor all that unexpected, particularly magicians on a similar level of power.

Meikai supposes he could talk to Altair about the differences in the magic systems of their worlds, but honestly, he’d rather have someone to chat with who doesn’t revere him as the Great Sorcerer. Altair seems to have similar thoughts.

“I’m sure you can handle raising those children,” says Meikai with a gentle smile. “Even if there are plenty of them, you seem like a natural.”

Altair’s image smiles back at him. He looks tired, as any new parent does, but happy. “I’m glad you think so. It seems like everyone besides Arietta believes a disaster will happen within the first week. And how is your daughter?”

“Doing well. Would you like to see her?” Without waiting for an answer, Meikai picks up his daughter’s egg from beside him and lifts it to where Altair will be able to see her properly.

There’s a pause, before Altair chuckles. “Even by the time she hatches, I don’t think I’ll be used to the idea that you laid an egg with the moon for a parent.”


	2. Giusto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party is strapped for cash.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers up to the second extra dungeon's last boss.

Surveying the area, Alto turned back to the rest of her group. “There’s a healing spot _and_ a couple of random fairies willing to sell us supplies. There’s no way Arietta’s not up ahead. We need to prepare for the worst, in case she wants to test our strength or something.”

“Really don’t like the idea of fighting someone that powerful…” Meirin sighed. “Guess we’d better load up on sharps and flats, huh? We were kinda running low anyway.”

“That would be wise, but aren’t we running low on funds, also?” Saki turned out his empty pockets.

“After the food shopping spree we had in Bel Canto,” said Teagan, “we’re low on everything except for berry tarts. Maybe we can see if we have anything spare to sell.”

The fairies willingly gave prices for anything the group had on hand: spare weapons, old ribbons, extra naturals, and-

“No,” said Aubrey, expression suddenly very cold. “We are not selling Luthier.”

“We’d pay lots and lots for it,” said one fairy.

“Cash money,” said the other. “It’s a weapon and it flies, double whammy!”

Aubrey’s glare hardened. “I don’t care how much money it’s worth. We’re not selling Father’s scythe.”

“Technically, isn’t it only a mental copy of- okay, never mind,” said Teagan, immediately backing down when they turned their stare on her.

“They were able to bring it with them outside Uncommon Time,” said Saki. “I think it would be fair to consider it ‘real’, especially for sentimental purposes.”

“Don’t be a jerk,” said Meirin, more succinctly.

“So what I’m hearing is,” said Alto, “we’re going to fight a bunch more monsters and loot their bodies for money until we have enough to shop with. Right, guys?”

There was general agreement, before Teagan said, “That makes even less sense here than it usually does.”


	3. Agitato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teagan, and the matter of your friends banging your siblings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post Ending 1.

After a too long conversation with Meirin and Saki, Teagan sits in the kitchen with her head in her hands, until Aubrey comes by.

“Teagan?” they ask. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope. Nothing wrong at all,” she says, not looking up at them. “If you’re looking for Meirin or Saki, they’re probably still giggling to themselves somewhere about getting laid.”

“Ah,” says Aubrey, in a small voice. “Thank you, I’ll give them some time.”

After another moment, Teagan asks, “Aubrey, you had siblings, right? I mean, I know you weren’t really close to the other orphanage kids, but they were still your siblings.”

They nod.

“Hearing people talk about how great sex with your sibling was is weird. Even for somebody who isn’t ace, it’s weird? Right?”

Aubrey turns a light shade of pink and clears their throat. “Well, I didn’t hear that sort of talk that often but… yes. It’s not just you, it’s really very strange.”

“Thank you. Alto said she doesn’t have any siblings so she couldn’t judge, and anyway she thinks I’ve been policing my siblings’ sexuality too long, but…” Teagan rubs her forehead. “Is it too much to ask that I don’t ever hear about it?”


	4. Strepitoso

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Altair and the group's perception of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post the second extra dungeon.

Seeing that Meirin’s unusually deep in thought, instead of chatting with the group while they have lunch like she usually does, Saki is the one to ask, “Is something on your mind?”

“I was just thinking about when we went to Uncommon Time! When we saw Arietta’s memories. I didn’t think it was a great time to bring it up then, but...” Meirin pauses. “Wasn’t Altair really super hot?”

Aubrey nearly chokes on their drink, and while Alto goes to make sure they’re okay, Saki laughs lightly and replies, “He was. At the time I couldn’t tell if I was just seeing him through the filter of Arietta’s perception of him, or if he really was that good looking.”

“He was really sweet in person, too, when I met him,” says Alto, once she’s confirmed Aubrey isn’t choking to death. “And definitely handsome. I didn’t say anything back then because it would be weird, but...”

“It’s still weird,” says Aubrey, with all the firmness they can muster.

“If you’re going to talk about this kind of stuff, I’m going to go back to the kitchen,” says Teagan. A bit more reluctantly, she adds, “You can come with, Aubrey.”

“Oh! Really?” They hop up from their chair.

“The best thing you can do is just ignore them when they start going about sex stuff,” she says. “...It’d be easier trying to teach you to cook safely than trying to get them to stop talking about sex.”


	5. Lentissimo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Altair and some speculation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second extra dungeon spoilers.

Altair is well aware of the whisperings of those around them after Arietta became visibly pregnant. While there are those who speculate that his infertility was mistakenly diagnosed by the doctors after all, there are more who believe Arietta just plain cheated on him and that he’s an idiot.

There is a part of him that believes ‘the simplest explanation is usually right’, who might agree. Much more of him believes that Arietta has so much raw magical ability that if anyone in the world could create a child without sex, it’s her, and she has no reason to start lying to him now.

The rest of him decides he’ll never know for sure, and it will never matter. Like in so many things, it’s the children who have the right idea.

Piano Cantabile was always told the truth, and has always called him ‘Father’.


	6. Prima Volta

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arietta and Altair's first kiss.

The first time Arietta had attempted to kiss Altair, they’d banged noses.

Arietta’s kissing experience had been fairly limited when she didn’t really consider any human her peer (and dating spirits was a whole different matter entirely), so when she leaned in towards him, he wasn’t quite facing her all the way. He turned suddenly and: bonk.

“I am so sorry,” said Altair, holding his nose. “Are you alright?”

“Just fine,” she replied, rubbing hers. It didn’t hurt as much as it was just plain embarrassing. “Next time I’ll warn you before I try to kiss you.”

“I think that would work out better for both of us,” he said.

After a moment, she asked, “Heeey, can you move your hand so I can kiss you?”

Altair obligingly moved his hand. “You don’t want to wait for a more romantic time, or…?”

“Nope!” she replied. “This is super cute, and it’s romantic because it’s you and me and I like you. I’d rather date someone who still wants to kiss me even after I mess up and bonk him in the nose. Do you still want to kiss me?”

He smiled at her. “Of course.”

So she successfully kissed him.


	7. Narrante

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chantal, Chantal's siblings, and Altair the natural supporter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First extra dungeon spoilers.

Chantal likes a lot of things about Altair, which is not surprising considering his role in her life. She likes his kindness, and how he takes people’s problems seriously no matter what age the person is or how miniscule the problem might seem to others.

One of the things she likes best about him is that he’s a natural supporter.

Altair does everything he can to encourage the interests and strengths of his children. A child came up to him with a song he wrote, hand-written on a staff with slightly wobbly lines, and Altair smiled and played it for him then and there. Chantal’s sibling listened with total rapture to the music, and when it was done Altair told him to keep writing music so that he could continue having the honor of playing it. Since then her brother has improved and his music has been sung by the local church chorus, but he still always brings the songs to Altair to play before anyone else.

Another of Chantal’s siblings took up boxing, and when boys told her that she could never compete against real men, she gave them all black eyes. Altair smoothed it over with the boys’ parents (healing the black eyes for them may have helped) and later told his daughter that he didn’t know much about boxing, but he knew she could defeat anyone in her path, and that he would always be there at her matches. She’s the local champion of amateur boxing now.

Altair encourages his children to try new things, to experiment and find out what they enjoy. It may take a long time for her siblings to discover their passions, but when they do, the shine in their eyes makes it obvious.

Chantal wonders if Aubrey will be like that, too, if they just need some time and a little pushing to find something outside of Altair that gives their life joy. It doesn’t matter what their interest ends up being: Altair and Chantal will support anything that makes them really smile.

She hopes so, anyway.


	8. Reprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alto and a mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vague spoilers for Ending 1.

It’s you.

You look into the mirror, checking yourself over for imperfections. Your hair is neatly arranged, braids on the sides carefully done. Your clothes are carefully laundered, without a wrinkle to be seen. Finally, the most important part: a smile on your face.

‘You must always present a good face to the outside world,’ you’d been told when you were younger. (You didn’t always comprehend what ‘outside world’ meant.) ‘You are the heir to the Cantabiles, and as such you represent the family in every word and action.’

You straighten up a little more.

It’s time to leave home.

* * *

Despite everything, it’s still you.

You check the mirror out of habit. Your clothes are messy: you’d been able to wash them in your house in Bel Canto, but ironing was a waste of time on a tight schedule. Your hair is out of place, and when you run your hand through it you snag a knot and wince. You look about as tired as you feel, even after all that sleeping you just did.

But your smile is real now, and reaches all the way to your eyes.

Downstairs, your friends are calling your name.

You are already home.


	9. Dolce

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chantal and Rue decide to adopt.

Chantal and Rue Maia have been married for ten years before Chantal announces, “Rue and I are thinking about adopting.”

“I thought you were tired of looking after little kids?” Arietta asks.

“Well, I was, but they’ve been looking after themselves for years now, I got to take a break,” Chantal replies. “And it was a pain, but it also kind of made me happy, too. I think with Rue, I - are you crying?”

Altair wipes at his eyes, smiling. “Not at all.”

“He totally is,” Arietta says.

“Perhaps a little,” he admits. “ I’m just… you’ll make such wonderful parents, I’m sure. I’m so happy for you.”

Chantal beams at him. “They’ll have the best grandpa ever.”

Arietta pointedly clears her throat.

“And the best grandma who’ll probably spoil them silly, especially when I’m trying to teach them discipline,” Chantal adds.

“You know it,” Arietta agrees without a hint of shame. “We have to be embarrassing enough for two sets of grandparents. Maybe even for three. How do you measure embarrassment?”

“I don’t think there’s an agreed-upon scale,” says Altair with a chuckle. “We’ll have to just play it by ear.”

Chantal rolls her eyes.


	10. Freddo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aubrey is cold, and uses that as an excuse to cuddle. It's not as cute as it sounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for Ending 4.

It’s cold, Aubrey thinks, and then chides themself a little for even thinking it.

Of course it’s cold. It’s been cold for a long time - the world has just reached the part of its eternal winter where it’s hard to focus on anything else, even when they’re the cause of all this cold.

They sort of wish they had Meirin’s ability to use fire magic to heat herself up. The thought makes them wonder vaguely how Meirin is doing, or if she’s already died by now. They hope it was or will be peaceful, and move on.

It’s probably better that they can’t use fire magic, because it gives them an excuse to cuddle up to Alto under the covers.

“You’re still warm,” they say, with their head in the crook of her shoulder. “How do you do it?”

“It’s a secret,” she says, and smiles when Aubrey pouts at her. “...Since I’m conducting the winter, I have to be the last one to go, or else things might naturally adjust back to more normal temperatures without me. So I have to be warm.”

“That still doesn’t explain how, though.” They puff a sigh, then continue snuggling her. “As long as you let me sleep here with you, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t worry,” she replies, and slides an arm around them. “You can be second to last.”

Aubrey wonders if that’s really something that should be comforting, being the last two people alive in this miserable world they’re destroying. Then they decide they don’t care.

They’ve never liked this world. They’ve only cared for a select few of the people in it, and one of those people is Alto. Dying together with the person they love… sounds perfect.


End file.
